1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a battery charging apparatus, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable electronic apparatuses, for example, notebook computers, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are widely used. The portable electronic apparatuses use an electric adapter, or a battery, as a power system. In order for portable electronic apparatuses to use a battery as a power system, the battery should be charged, either while mounted in the portable electronic apparatuses, or while disposed in an external charger.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional battery charging apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the conventional battery charging apparatus includes an adapter 1 and an external charger 2 to charge a battery 3.
The adapter 1 converts an input alternating-current (AC) power into a direct-current (DC) power and provides the DC power to the external charger 2. The external charger 2 converts a voltage of the input DC current into to a voltage level necessary to charge the battery 3 and provides the converted voltage to the battery 3. The battery 3 can be mounted in a battery compartment, which is provided on one side of the external charger 2.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the external charger 2 includes a voltage converter 4, which converts an input voltage into a charging voltage, which has a voltage necessary for charging the battery 3, and a controller 5, which communicates with the battery 3, and controls the voltage converter 4. The controller 5 communicates with the battery 3, to determine whether the battery 3 needs to be charged, and whether a voltage level of the battery 3 is at a suitable level. Also, the controller 5 controls the voltage converter 4 to convert an input voltage (VDC) supplied from the adapter 1 to a charging voltage necessary for charging the battery 3. Also, the controller 5 stops charging the battery 3 when the battery 3 is fully charged.
The conventional battery charging apparatus should have the external charger 2, which receives the input electric power from the adapter 1, and supplies the same to the battery 3, in order to charge the battery 3. This may cause the battery charging to be burdensome. Further, this may incur an additional expense in having an additional external charger 2, which must also be carried with the portable electronic apparatus.